Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for the Destruction of the Treacherous.
For the music director; on stringed instruments. A [a]Maskil of David.
55 (A)Listen to my prayer, God;
And (B)do not hide Yourself from my pleading.
2 Give Your (C)attention to me and answer me;
I am restless in my (D)complaint and [b](E)severely distracted,
3 Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the (F)pressure of the wicked;
For they (G)bring down [c]trouble upon me
And in anger they (H)hold a grudge against me.
4 My (I)heart is in anguish within me,
And the terrors of (J)death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and (K)trembling come upon me,
And [d](L)horror has [e]overwhelmed me.
6 I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and [f](M)be at rest.
7 Behold, I would flee far away,
I would (N)spend my nights in the wilderness. Selah
8 I would hurry to my place of refuge
From the (O)stormy wind and heavy gale.”
9 Confuse them, Lord, (P)divide their tongues,
For I have seen (Q)violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around her upon her walls,
And evil and harm are in her midst.
11 (R)Destruction is in her midst;
(S)Oppression and deceit do not depart from her [g]streets.
12 For it is (T)not an enemy who taunts me,
Then I could endure it;
Nor is it one who hates me who (U)has exalted himself against me,
Then I could hide myself from him.
13 But it is you, a man [h]my equal,
My (V)companion and my (W)confidant;
14 We who had sweet [i]fellowship together,
(X)Walked in the house of God among the commotion.
15 May [j]death come (Y)deceitfully upon them;
May they (Z)go down alive to [k]Sheol,
For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.
16 As for me, I shall (AA)call upon God,
And the Lord will save me.
17 (AB)Evening and (AC)morning and at (AD)noon, I will complain and moan,
And He will hear my voice.
18 He will (AE)redeem my soul in peace [l]from the battle which is against me,
For they are (AF)many who are aggressive toward me.
19 God will (AG)hear and humiliate them—
Even the one (AH)who [m]sits enthroned from ancient times— Selah
With whom there [n]is no change,
And who (AI)do not fear God.
20 He has put forth his hands against (AJ)those who were at peace with him;
He has [o](AK)violated his covenant.
21 His [p]speech was (AL)smoother than butter,
But his heart was war;
His words were (AM)softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn (AN)swords.
Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.
A Psalm of David.
138 (A)I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing Your praises before the (B)gods.
2 I will bow down (C)toward Your holy temple
And (D)give thanks to Your name for Your mercy and Your [a]truth;
For You have (E)made Your [b]word great [c]according to all Your name.
3 On the day I (F)called, You answered me;
You made me bold with (G)strength in my soul.
4 (H)All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, Lord,
When they have heard the words of Your mouth.
5 And they will (I)sing of the ways of the Lord,
For (J)great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For (K)the Lord is exalted,
Yet He (L)looks after the lowly,
But He knows the (M)haughty from afar.
7 Though I (N)walk in the midst of trouble, You will [d](O)revive me;
You will (P)reach out with Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will (Q)save me.
8 The Lord will (R)accomplish what concerns me;
Your (S)faithfulness, Lord, is everlasting;
(T)Do not abandon the (U)works of Your hands.
God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.
For the music director. A Psalm of David.
139 Lord, You have (V)searched me and known me.
2 You (W)know [e]when I sit down and [f]when I get up;
You (X)understand my thought from far away.
3 You [g](Y)scrutinize my [h]path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 [i]Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, Lord, You (Z)know it all.
5 You have (AA)encircled me behind and in front,
And (AB)placed Your hand upon me.
6 Such (AC)knowledge is (AD)too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot comprehend it.
7 (AE)Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 (AF)If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in [j]Sheol, behold, (AG)You are there.
9 If I take up the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will (AH)lead me,
And Your right hand will take hold of me.
11 If I say, “Surely the (AI)darkness will [k]overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
12 Even (AJ)darkness is not dark [l]to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
(AK)Darkness and light are alike to You.
13 For You (AL)created my innermost parts;
You (AM)wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, because [m]I am awesomely and wonderfully made;
(AN)Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15 My [n](AO)frame was not hidden from You
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully formed in the (AP)depths of the earth;
16 Your (AQ)eyes have seen my formless substance;
And in (AR)Your book were written
All the (AS)days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
17 How precious also are Your (AT)thoughts for me, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them, they would (AU)outnumber the sand.
When (AV)I awake, I am still with You.
19 If only You would (AW)put the wicked to death, God;
(AX)Leave me, (AY)you men of bloodshed.
20 For they (AZ)speak [o]against You wickedly,
And Your enemies [p](BA)take Your name in vain.
21 Do I not (BB)hate those who hate You, Lord?
And do I not (BC)loathe those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
Work Is Ridiculed
4 [a]Now it came about that when (A)Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry, and he mocked the Jews. 2 And he spoke in the presence of his brothers and (B)the [b]wealthy people of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore the temple for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish it in a day? Can they revive the stones from the (C)heaps of rubble, even the burned ones?” 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him, and he said, “Even what they are building—(D)if a fox were to [c]jump on it, it would break their stone wall down!”
4 (E)Hear, O our God, how we are an object of contempt! (F)Return their taunting on their own heads, and turn them into plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not [d](G)forgive their guilt and do not let their sin be wiped out before You, for they have [e]demoralized the builders.
6 So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a [f]mind to work.
7 [g]Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the [h]repair of the walls of Jerusalem went [i]on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry. 8 So all of them (H)conspired together to come to fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.
Discouragement Overcome
9 But we prayed to our God, and because of them we (I)set up a guard against them day and night.
10 And so [j]in Judah it was said:
“The strength of the burden bearers is failing,
Yet there is much rubble;
And we ourselves are unable
To rebuild the wall.”
11 And our enemies said, “They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them, and put a stop to the work.” 12 When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, “[k]They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,” 13 then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I (J)stationed the people in families with their swords, spears, and bows. 14 When I saw their fear, I stood and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: “(K)Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and (L)fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
15 Now when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that (M)God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work. 16 And from that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them kept hold of the spears, the shields, the bows, and the coats of mail; and the captains were behind all the house of Judah. 17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens carried with one hand doing the work, and the other keeping hold of a weapon. 18 As for the builders, each wore his sword strapped to his waist as he built, while [l]the trumpeter stood near me. 19 And I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another. 20 At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, assemble to us there. (N)Our God will fight for us.”
21 So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from [m]dawn until the stars [n]appeared. 22 At that time I also said to the people, “Each man with his servant shall spend the night within Jerusalem, so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.” 23 So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me—none of us [o]removed our clothes; each took his weapon even to the water.
The 144,000
4 And I heard the (A)number of those who were sealed: (B)144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
5 from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, 6 from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, 7 from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, 8 from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, and from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.
A Multitude from the Tribulation
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from (C)every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages, standing (D)before the throne and (E)before the Lamb, clothed in (F)white robes, and (G)palm branches were in their hands; 10 and they *cried out with a loud voice, saying,
11 And all the angels were standing (J)around the throne and around (K)the elders and the (L)four living creatures; and they (M)fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying,
“(N)Amen, (O)blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might belong to our God forever and ever. (P)Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders (Q)responded, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the (R)white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” 14 I [a]said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the (S)great tribulation, and they have (T)washed their robes and made them (U)white in the (V)blood of the Lamb. 15 For this reason they are (W)before the throne of God, and they (X)serve Him day and night in His [b](Y)temple; and (Z)He who sits on the throne will spread His (AA)tabernacle over them. 16 (AB)They will no longer hunger nor thirst, nor will the sun [c]beat down on them, nor any scorching heat; 17 for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their (AC)shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the [d](AD)water of life; and (AE)God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
The Mustard Seed
31 He presented another parable to them, saying, “(A)The kingdom of heaven is like (B)a mustard seed, which a person took and sowed in his field; 32 and this is smaller than all the other seeds, but when it is fully grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that (C)the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”
The Leaven
33 He spoke another parable to them: “(D)The kingdom of heaven is like [a]leaven, which a woman took and hid in (E)three [b]sata of flour until it was all leavened.”
34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak anything to them (F)without a parable. 35 This was so that what was spoken through the prophet would be [c]fulfilled:
“(G)I will open My mouth in parables;
I will proclaim things hidden since the foundation of the world.”
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